Hello.I'm not English, so there are things I don't understand yet.In Oct. 2014 I've been to England, visiting London and Liverpool (Beatles fan, I). Outside of England, there is the stereotype of English people being very polite but not warm to people. I saw that in my time in London, and one thing, I will never forget: in a record store, I asked for a basket from an employee, to help me carry the CD's I was picking, the man gave it to me, I thanked him, but he never said a word, or even looked at me. Where I live (Brazil), that would be considered very rude. Rarely I saw someone smiling in London.On the other hand, I found Liverpudlians very warm, so the stereotype doesn't apply there. It's not that I was mistreated in London, people were very polite and helpful, but I missed some warmness, that I found in Liverpool.What are your opinions, your thoughts about that?

Quite normal in my experience I am afraid, Gabriel. There is a stark breakdown of social cohesion and politeness these days in the UK, most particularly in the cities.

In the service sector, especially, unskilled staff (usually - though not always - female) often seem to have very high opinions of themselves and do not deign to be polite. It's the entitlement culture, easily amplified by feminism. Even when one goes out of one's way to be polite, silence is frequently the response.

In my view such staff should be sacked, because politeness is a basic requirement of any job (the same should be hoped for from customers too, of course!). But with benefits so readily available, perhaps people don't mind being sacked and it is increasingly difficult for employers to find anybody with even the most basic skills of human interaction required by the role.

Gabriel wrote:Hello.I'm not English, so there are things I don't understand yet.In Oct. 2014 I've been to England, visiting London and Liverpool (Beatles fan, I). Outside of England, there is the stereotype of English people being very polite but not warm to people. I saw that in my time in London, and one thing, I will never forget: in a record store, I asked for a basket from an employee, to help me carry the CD's I was picking, the man gave it to me, I thanked him, but he never said a word, or even looked at me. Where I live (Brazil), that would be considered very rude. Rarely I saw someone smiling in London.On the other hand, I found Liverpudlians very warm, so the stereotype doesn't apply there. It's not that I was mistreated in London, people were very polite and helpful, but I missed some warmness, that I found in Liverpool.What are your opinions, your thoughts about that?

You have to remember that most people in London these days are not English (in the traditional sense of the word), whereas in Liverpool about 90% still are. Although on the other hand I think London has always had a slightly unfriendly reputation compared to other parts of the country.

I admit that I don't usually smile at people I don't know, especially women, not because I don't want to be friendly but because I don't want to be accused of harassment, particularly sexual harassment with women.

So, for you, it's not a mentality thing, such as "Londoners are much more reserved than most English people"? How interesting! I agree with that sense of entitlement, and unfortunately, it's only getting worse. As I said in another thread, some groups, perceived as marginalized, are getting all kinds of favours from our government (thus generating resentment from a large part of the population), when, I think, the better course of action would be integrate these groups better to society.

Andy JS:

Thanks for your insight. I plan to travel to England many more times during my life, as I love many things from there, specially its music. Also I like to observe people (not stalk them! please :)). I fact, where I live, the vast majority of people are very warm to just about anyone, so I'm used to it, although I don't like so much warmth from people I don't know, personally. That's because I really liked the people from Liverpool: they're open, helpful, nice, warm, but not invasive. I hope I can visit many more cities there.